Monday, August 10, 2009

Macaron Architecture Lesson...

And then I read about Fanny Zanotti's 6-week stage at Pierre Herme on Food Beam. Fanny goes into delicious detail of what goes on behind the closed kitchen doors at PH...She tells us of the bucket where all wrecked macaron lids (coque/shell) end up = a sort of circular file. How we would love to get our hands into that bucket!I also learned from Fanny that the baked macaron lids are called coques - meaning shells..

Immediately I thought of CLAM shells!Am I alone in seeing the resemblance?Two lids containing a delicious filling... I was reminded too of when Barbara Bleu (shown here) and I went to Bofingerand shared a plateau a coquillage - a yummy melange of shelled goodies. Clam shells were also used by 18th century British watercolorists to hold their paint splodges when they painted outdoors.So clams + macarons + watercolors are all kind of relatedif you see what I mean...After all, a lot of architecture comes right out of nature.I can only think of the macaron/clam combo at the moment,but I'm sure this is the case... So the next time you're about to bite into that macaron...Think CLAM please/S.V.P.PS!Dorie Greenspan has written a wonderful history of the macaronyou can chew on, while digesting this clam-mac thought...

Bonjour Carol,Yesterday I saw the film, Julie and Julia. I LOVED it! I have to see it again. I hope you get a chance to see it (if you haven't already - it opened last Friday). I didn't see any macarons but lots of other food and scenes of Paris in the 40's and 50's.

PARIS in yr Mailbox!

♥carol gillott♥

l'Ile Saint Louis, Paris, Ile de France, France

Hi I'm Carol Gillott,
My Mom taught me watercolors at 5 and I'm still at it. Now I live by the Seine on l'Ile Saint-Louis. Do consider subscribing to my Paris letters and maps on Etsy and enjoy a taste of Paris in your mailbox every month to savor with a hot chocolate and croissant. I paint Paris dreams.